


What I'm Hiding

by A_Spoonful_Of_Salt



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Demons, Gore, Horror edd, Other, Psychological Break, Schizophrenia, The End, bad beginning im so sorry, bodyhorror, insane tord, old fic, voices
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-05-13 18:29:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14754041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Spoonful_Of_Salt/pseuds/A_Spoonful_Of_Salt
Summary: Demons are shifty and clever creatures. They find you in your darkest most unstable moments, latch to your skin, and never let you go."-Eiden-*-Things never were the same after the Robot Incident.Surprisingly, Edd was the thing that changed the most.He shakes and twitches and he... he hears voices that no one else can.--------------This was actually made a long time ago, and honestly, a lot of the first chapters aren't very good. I'll try to edit them as I go to make them more enjoyable. Also, all the chapters are pretty short. Read at your own discretion.





	1. Chapter 1

**Introduction**

_Lights flashed, sirens screamed. Smoke plumed in the air. The sounds of desperate crying filled his ears. A shout, an explosion._

_And then... All was dark._

~*~

 

Edd gasped and sat up. Blinking rapidly, he stared around his room. His heart was beating erratically and hot tears pooled in his eyes. Memories from  _that day_ filled his head.

   Quickly, he wiped his face with his sleeve. He sniffed and climbed out of bed. He paused in front of the door. As he reached out toward the door knob, he plastered a smile on his face. 

An extra big one to shield his building inner turmoil. 

He walked out. "Who wants bacon?!" He called through his empty apartment. As his voice echoed back to him, his illusion of happiness faded. "Oh, right..." 

 

He rubbed his arm solemnly and wandered around until he reached the living room. Edd sighed and flopped onto the couch. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. He looked down at his hands.

"You want cola, Tord?" He whispered. " _What, no._ _Where's_ _the bacon?_ " A vaguely remembered voice whispered back. Edd shivered as he switched between his voice and imitating Tord's Norwegian accent. 

Suddenly, two identical knocks sounded at the door. 

Edd was relieved at the interruption.

"I got it!" 

He jumped up and practically flew to the door.

But the person who stood before him was not who he expected. 

"Hello, Edward."


	2. 1.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Edd meets a ghost of his past and promptly has a freak out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's still not very good.

**1.**

 

Edd stared blankly at the man standing in his doorway.

".....Tord?" He slowly reached out to touch the Norwegian. "Y-you came ba-" Edd's hand slid through the other mans figure. The image shimmered and faded like mist. 

.....It was fake?

Edd choked out a laugh.

Of course it was fake.

No matter.

Chuckling, he headed down the hall and knocked on Tom's door. He heard shuffling before the door swung open.

"Oh. Hey, Edd."

Edd' s grin was wide and unnatural. "Hey, Tommy, I was wondering if you had any bacon. I think Tord ate all mine." He shrugged.

"Um... Edd.... Tord doesn't live with us anymore."

Edd blew a raspberry "I knew that."

Tom frowned, kinda worried. "Yeahhh...."

"But seriously. I need some bacon." Edd tapped his foot impatiently.

Tom moved out of the way, letting the brunette past. Edd headed to the kitchen.

"Found it!"

~*~ 

  
A few minutes later, Edd, Matt and Tom found themselves at the small dining table.

Matt chattered like his life depended on it. Tom occasionally nodded or grunted when the ginger asked him direct questions.

Edd just sat, poking at his food. He smiled at some of the things Matt blabbed about.

He opened his mouth to add to the conversation.

No words came out.

He coughed, bringing his hands up to his mouth. Edd could feel something warm and thick dribble down his chin.

Tom looked up. "Uh... Edd? You alright?"

Matt looked concerned too.

The green Britt nodded and stood up.

"I'm fine." He spoke through his hands. "I just need to use th-the bathroom." He turned and fled down the hall.

~*~

 

Edd bolted the bathroom door shut.

He shakily lowered himself down to the  floor. His shoulders lurched with every hack.

This had been happening for sometime now. But this... This had to be the worst fit yet. During these, his mind would fog up. He sometimes caught himself punching the walls or tearing pillows. It scared him. Edd _scared_ himself.

The ooze spilled from his mouth. It tasted like gasoline.

Edd stood up and walked to the sink, trying to spit every bit of the vile slime out.  When it wouldn't stop, he pulled up his hood and opened the bathroom door. 

Keeping his head down, he tried to push past Matt and Tom who were asking continuous questions.

He reached for the doorknob and was stopped short.

Tom had caught hold of his sleeve.

"Let go of me." Edd's voice was dangerous sounding.

Tom did the opposite and pulled a bit. "Edd... what's wrong? What's happening?!"

Edd growled. Like a dog. A feral dog. 

"Edd, tell me so I can help!" Tom was desperate.

"I said.. LET GO OF ME!" Edd swung around and connected his fist to the eyeless man's jaw.

It wasn't so much the actual pain that caused Tom to release Edd, but the very fact that the small brunette even resorted to such a feat.

 

Matt and Tom stared in shock as Edd turned and left without a word.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is ungodly short.

Edd slammed his apartment door shut and locked it.

He could feel his mind slipping again.

"I punched him..." Edd blinked.

His eyes seemed clouded. He instinctively reached up and rubbed them. Feeling something sticky, he pulled his hand back slightly; just to see what the substance was.

More black ooze.

It was coming out of his eyes now?!

Hyperventilating, he sprinted to the bathroom.  
He could hardly see.  
It was terrifying.

He felt like throwing up.  
Or crying.

OR BOTH!

He collapsed on the ground, chest heaving.

Coherent thought was quickly abandoning him. He couldn't see. The black stuff burned.

In his last fleeting moments before complete darkness, he heard the door of his apartment trying to push open.


	4. Chapter 4

Tom tried pushing the door again. Of course, it didn't budge. He took a breath and started to run at it to try to break it down. Matt stopped him.  
The ginger pulled a wrench out of no where and started to bash the handle.

"Matt, what the hell are you doing?!" 

Matt turned his head and smiled at Tom. "Why, breaking the doorknob of course!"

"THAT'S- actually pretty smart..."

Matt giggled despite the situation and continued hitting the brass knob until it broke off.

"Aha!" Matt swung the door easily open. "After you, good sir."

Tom didn't let him finish before pushing past Matt and into the apartment.

"Edd?!" Tom called through the room. No response.

"Edd?" Matt was looking under dishes and pillows, all earlier intelligence seemed to have vanished.

Tom crept warily down the hall to the  bathroom and opened the door.  
There was a green heap on the floor.

"E-Edd?"

Edd lifted his head slowly and turned to face Tom.  
The blue Brit gasped upon seeing Edd's face.  
A wide grin was painted on his face. It wouldn't have bothered Tom if there wasn't buckets of black ooze flooding from Edd' s eyes and mouth.

Matt peered over Tom's shoulder and screamed at the sight. Tom shushed him and turned back to Edd.

"H-hey, buddy. You ok?"

Edd's only response was hacking up more of the black stuff.  
The air was rank with the sent of gasoline.

Tom knelt beside the brunette, starting to panic.

"Edd, what-"

Giggling interrupted him.

Edd's shoulders shook as he chuckled. The giggling slowly grew into full out laughter.  
It was distorted and fell on Matt and Tom's ears wrong. They both sat in horrified silence as Edd started gasping for air in between bouts of laughter.

Tom was the first to wake from the silent daze. He grabbed onto Edd, shaking him slightly, trying to snap him out of whatever was assailing him.

Edd' s breath hitched, choking on some of the ooze. His breathing sped up for a moment before he slumped, unconscious, into Tom's arms.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The two chapters I used to make this were so short that I could combine them and make a mediocre chapter.

Matt's foot tapped anxiously on the tiled floor of the hospital.  
He and Tom had taken Edd to the ER about two hours ago.

Tom hadn't stopped pacing in all that time.

Thoughts ran together in the ginger's head. It had been ages since he had spent this long on a single train of thought.

He wondered what had happened to make Edd like this. The oozing stuff, not the depression.  
Edd had been trying to disguise his decreasing mental health, but Matt had seen through it.  
Tom must've fell for it, though. Tom had been convincing himself that everything was perfect.

That nothing was wrong.

That things would immediately and indefinitely go back to normal.

 _"And being the idiot I am, I went along with it."_ Matt hissed silently to himself.

And now Edd was suffering even more.

Matt sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Tom?" His voice sounded scared and small in the emptiness of the waiting room.

Tom stopped his pacing to look at the purple and green male.

"Yeah?" His voice cracked, he cleared his throat, "What?"

"D'you, um... d'you think Edd's gonna be okay?"

Tom's frown deepened. "I don't know, Matt."

Matt nodded and looked down, fiddling with his hands. "I hope so..."

Tom went back to his pacing.

~*~

_**//Edd's POV//** _

The silence was terrifying.  
I could hear my heart beating. My blood pumping.  
The combination left a low droning sound in my ears.

The literal sound of silence. I would've laughed if I wasn't so scared.

A sudden pain burst through my head. I tried to scream, but no sound arose.  
I was left to writhe silently in the dark abyss.

~*~

**_//3rd person POV//_ **

Tom's agitated steps were interrupted by the slamming of the waiting room's door.  
He glanced up at the slightly ruffled doctor.

The doctor sucked in a breath, most likely to calm himself. His gaze swept over the two worried males faces.

"Are you Edward Gold's acquaintances?"

Matt and Tom exchanged a glance.

Tom spoke up. "Yessir. Why?"

The doctor closed his eyes before looking straight into the voids that were Tom's eyes. "Your... 'friend' is experiencing a rather serious case of psychosis. He, ah, he _attacked_ one of the nurses. She now occupies one of the rooms." His laugh was bitter and devoid of amusement, "Who new a little piece of glass could be so... lethal?"

The air around Tom suddenly got colder.

"Edd attacked someone." He repeated dumbly.

The doctor nodded. His next words were like knives through Tom and Matt's hearts.

"We're transfering Mr. Gold to a mental clinic. You won't be seeing him for a while. I'm terribly sorry." He didn't look sorry.

Matt's eyes teared up. "Mental clinic? You.. You mean an _asylum_ , don't you?"

The doctor refused to look at the sniveling ginger, and went on with more bad news. "We also don't know what's causing the black substance, so we'll have to do a lot more 'tests' while he's in rehabilitation. Quite unfortunate, really. It'll most likely cause him more stress. He might have to stay longer than intended. Oh well."

Tom clenched  his hands into fists, keeping the onslaught of emotions at bay. Anger at the doctor's unsympathetic glare. Fear for what comes in the future. Sadness for what had become of Edd.  
Matt wasn't as successful seeing as his silent tears turned into gross sobbing.

"Again, terribly sorry. Oh, and visiting time is over. Please leave the waiting room. Have a nice day." The doctor exited.

Terribly sorry, indeed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious foe appears.

It's been a week since Edd had been admitted into the asylum. The white jackets had been watching him with growing concern as he repeatedly tried harming himself and the doctors.

Strangly, the psychotic episodes only occurred when the black substance appeared. Any other time Edd seemed to be normal. Well, as normal as someone who was going insane could be. He murmured to himself, talked to people who weren't there. He'd called out the names of his friends in sleep several times, and on occasion he called out a person's name that seemed to have no record of existing. At least no legal record.

"Who the hell is 'Tord' anyway?" A newer doctor, a man with black hair, spoke up one day during his shift.

His older partner have him a sideways glance. "No idea. We've looked him up countless times but.. I'm afraid he's just a character made up by a mentally unstable 20 something year old." She chuckled drily.

The man frowned. He had his doubts. "Perhaps..."

His partner turned and headed down the hall. "Come along, Jason. Let's go see if we can identify that ooze."

'Jason' nodded and followed her, casting one last glance at the patient in the white-padded room.

~*~

Edd was stuck in the confines of his own mind. But this time, he couldn't feel his body moving without his commands. Whatever it was that controlled him must be dormant or something. What a relief.

He sighed, relaxing. Maybe he was getting better?

Maybe the intense medication they had him on was actually doing something.

Good. Because the sooner he could get out of here, the sooner he could reassure his friends.

He was healing.

**_"How much more stupid could you possibly get?"_ **

 


	7. Chapter 7

Edd was startled, to say the least, when a voice resonated through his skull. It sounded like his voice, although more deep and menacing. 

 _ **"You think you're getting better?!"**_ the voice cackled hysterically, like the very thought was the most hilarious thing it had ever heard, _**"We're not done until I say so."**_

If Edd was conscious, he would have tilted his head in confusion. Not done? What?

 _ **"You know why the doctors say I'm here, right?"**_ The voice continued _ **,"' Trauma',"**_ Edd could hear it scoffing. **_"No, Eddy. I've just been waiting for the perfect time to push through! Our friends are vulnerable, you're impressionable- Oh,_** _ **Tordie**_ ** _left an opening for us!"_**

Edd was just getting more and more confused. Why did they need an opening? What in the world was the voice planning?

**_"Isn't it obvious, Eddy?! We can get the whole gang back together this way!"_ **

What way?

**_"The news of us being in a mental institute will attract Tord! He was always curious about these kind of things. And for an extra touch, just to make sure he shows up, I added the black stuff! I don't know exactly what it is, but it's working!"_ **

But, isn't this just going to attract unwanted attention too? The doctors were already conducting multiple experiments on Edd.

_**"We'll just wait until** _ _**Tord** _ _**comes back, and the pretend to get better! Then they'll let us go and the whole group will be back! Don't you want that, Edd? Don't you want to see them all happy and together? We were a family, Eddy!"** _

Edd contemplated it. It would be better than nice to start doing 'full cast' adventures again.

_**"I knew you'd agree! Now,there's just the problem of getting them to stay... Tom would need to stop fighting with Tord, and** _ **_Tord_ ** _**would obviously give up his dreams of taking control of the world. They both need to stay and be happy with us! They have to, Eddy."** _

Edd completely agreed. He would've been nodding aggressively, if he was conscious.

**_"But for now, it's time for another round of barfing ooze!"_ **


End file.
